Apparatus for distilling spirituous liquors



Feb. 23, 1937. T. J. HINES 2,071,693

' APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS Filed NOV. 16, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet l BEER HEATER F INAL CONDENSER F'EIZMENT'ER 02 BE ER WELL.

a wombat T. J. HINES Feb; 23, 1931.

. APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING SPIRITUOUS LIQUQRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 FiledNov. 16, 1933 LIM'BTIXU QMW fl'fhomas QIHi MMKTMQ NMMM JQLZMSEQQQSWlllllllllllllllllll I IIII Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED. STATES PATENTOFFICE APPARATUS ron i iglsjignllgme srnuruous 'lhomas Joseph Hines,Louisville, Ky. Application November 16, 1933, Serial No. 698,337

3 Claims.

This invention-relates to an improvement in the method and apparatusemployed for distilling spirituous liquors such as whiskeyand the like.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an apparatus foreffecting distillation in a continuous and therefore more rapid mannerbecause the necessity of using a doubler is eliminated, while at thesame time obtaining a greater yield and a higher quality finishedproduct from a given quantity of stock, and also efiecting economy inoperating costs by fully and advantageously utilizing the heat of thedistilling process with a consequent economy in the quantity of. waterused for condensing the final product.

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuous still whereinlow grade high temperature vapors containing oils and grain fats arecondensed in the upper part of the still and returned foriurtherdistillation without leaving the still, while the high grade vapors fromthe top of the still are conducted to the final condenser for recoveringthe final product, namely a high grade whiskey. That is to say, thepresent invention contemplates placing a coil in the upper end of thestill proper for conducting preheated but relatively low temperaturebeer into the still so that it is further heated before he- I ingdischarged in the boiler of the still, while the consequent relativelylow temperature of the coil acts as a condenser to throw down theVaporscontaining the undesirable oils and fats for furtherdistillation.- Furthermore, the presence of the relatively lowtemperature of the coil in the top of the still has, amongotheradvantages, the very desirable and practical feature of preventingthe still from blowing back or boiling over into the heater andconnections leading to the final condenser in the event that excesssteam pressure is accidentally or intentionally applied to the still.

A further object of the invention is to provide a modified form ofapparatus for producing a higher proof whiskey wherein the low gradecondensates precipitated by the coil in the top of the still and in thebeer heater may be further heated in other associated apparatus beforebeing returned to the still, thereby to cause the low grade distillateto more readily give off its a1- coholic vapors when it is returned tothe still proper.

With the above and other objects :in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the inventionconsists in-the novel features of construction,- combination andarrangement of parts,

hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and defined in the appended claims.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:-- v

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a distilling apparatus embodying thepresent improvements.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic-view illustrating a modification of theapparatus intended to obtain a higher proof whiskey when desired..

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

The best way to obtain high class whiskey distillation is by distillingthe beer at low temperature, thereby preventing carrying over the excessof fusel oils, grain fats and other non-essentials which require hightemperatures to vaporize. 1 Heretofore, it has been thegeneral practiceto collect the low grade vapors containing fats and the like in anapparatus separate from the still and redistill them separately.However, according to the present invention it is proposed to condensethese low grade vapors in the upper part of. the still or column itselfand precipitate them into the still proper so that they are continuouslyrefined by the original heat of the still without the necessity of usinga doubler.

Referring to Figure 1, the still is designated generally as S, the sameconsisting of a vertical colunm including at its lower end a boilersection comprising a plurality of foraminous boiler units of the typefor example shown in the Brennan Patent No. 822,573, June 5, 1906 andhaving at its upper end or dome a refining section 2, while theintermediate portion 3 constitutes a backings separating and flowretarding section including the low grade condensate collecting pan 4and the additional imperforate separating pans 5 which communicate witheach other by the pipes 6 and the cups I of the type shown in the patentreferred to. Steam is supplied to the bottom of the still column by theconduit 8 and bubbles or boils upwardly through the foraminous units. Inaccordance with the usual practice the bottom section of the still isprovided with a float controlled blow-01f valved for permitting thespent beer to go to waste at intervals under pressure within the still.

The top refining section or dome 2 -of the still column is provided withan air inlet valve ID to break any vacuum inthe column, and is alsoprovided witha conduit I l leading to the upper end of the jacket of theheater H. The latter pipe.I4 whichdischarges at I5 into the cup I of oneof the separating pans 5. The. purpose of this pipe is to returncondensed vapors from the heater jacket H to the still, as willpresently more fully appear. I v

The liquid from the fermenter or .beer well is pumped by the pump]? intothe lower chamber C of the heater and forced upwardly through the "tubesI2 to the chamber C at thextop ofthe the still column. This coil servesto further heat heater. As the liquidjfrom the fermenter or beer wellpasses through the tubes I2 it becomes heated due to'the fact. that'thesteam heated vapors'rising in the. still .column are conducted throughthe pipe II to the jacket surrounding thepipes or tubes I2. From' theupper chamber C? of the heater the beer is conveyed by pipe I6 to a coilR located. within the upper section 2 of the beer before it isdischarged intothe boiler of the still, and also because of the lowtemperature 'of the beer supplied thereto, it serves as a condenser.That is to say, the beer passing through the pipe I 6 and refining coilR is heated to a temperature of approximately 125 F., due to passingthrough the heater H, and therefore the temperature of the refining coilR is considerably less than the temperature of vapors rising in thestill column to provide in effect a relatively 0001 surface with whichthe rising vapors make contact and some of which condense in the mannerto be later described. The bottom of the refining coil R is led backinto the still at the headof the foraminous boiler units I as indicatedat I8,

thereby to discharge the, beer or liquidinto the top of the boilersection so that it will be cascaded downwardly through the foraminouswalls thereof while the steam supplied from the bottom.

of the still will ascend and carry with it the relatively volatilevapors extracted from the beer.

One of the distinctive features of the present invention resides inplacing the refining coil R directly within the still column. In otherwords, the present invention intends .to providea condensing medium inthe top of the still column so that the low-grade high-temperaturevapors containing oil's'and fats will be precipitated intothe upperseparating pan 4 of the separating section 3 within the still.

less than the temperature of the vapors rising-in the still columnanclwhich are directed between the outer side of the coil R and theinside of the section 2 by the. pan 4. Thus, this pan serves not only asa collecting medium butalso to deflect and direct the rising vaporsagainst the coil surfaces so that the said low-grade high-temperature:vapors. entrained in the vapor mass will be condensed and not carriedalong'with the high grade vapors through the pipe II into the jacket. ofthe heater H which is in circuit with the final condenser. Suchcondensation of low grade vapors as may occur within the jacket of theheater H are returned to the upper pan 5 of the separating section 3 bythe pipe I4.

.The advantages of locating the refining coil R As previously explainedthe' a temperature of the refining coil R is considerably within theupper end of the still column chamber are many. The chief advantages arehowever, that it serves to condense low grade rela- I 'to avoid carryingthem over into the final condenser. Also, if the operator of the stillshould attempt to speed up the distilling operation by supplying morethan'the required'amount of steam to the bottom of the still as oftenhappens by design or accident, the relatively cool condi- *tionof therefining coil R will prevent the still from boiling over into theheater.

Other advantages of the arrangement described arethat a greaterrefinement of the vapors occurs within the still and only the moredesirable high grade low temperature vapors can run the gantlet of therefining apparatus andrget into the final condenser. Furthermore, thepresence of the refining coil R in the still itself condenses thelow-grade vapors to such an extent, directly within the still, that onlya small amount of the low-grade vapors are carried over into the jacketof the heater. However, such condensation as occurs within the heater isalso returned'to the backing pans below the refining section. By leadingthe condensation'from the heater H through the pipe I4 and from therefining coil R directly into the backing pans below the coil, aseparation -can be obtained in a'highly more efiicient and economicalway than can possibly be obtained through the use of a doubler, or asecond separate distillation. The quality and volume is good at alltimes and is not subject to the variations of doubled whiskey, notproperly processed. When whiskey is doubled or redistilled in theordinary .Way, each operation entails a loss in volume of approximatelytwo to four points. With the present apparatus and process, however,this loss is avoided and consequently a higher yield of high qualityproductis assured.

In the event that it is desired to obtain a high proof whiskey, themodification shown in Figure 2 may be used. In this construction beer ispumped from the beer well by the pump P into the tubes I-2a of theheater H and from thence it is conducted by pipe IIia. to the refiningcoil R located in the top of the still column S which otherwise has allof the features pointed out in connection with the column S, namely alower boiler section I, an upper refining section 2, and an intermediateseparating section3. The refining coil R is led out of the still asindicated at I'Ia and is by-passed around the separating section 3containing the p s. 4 and 5, and then goes into the upper unit of theboiler at Illa. However, before the Ila or its equivalent leads back tothe st: it passes through a heater 20 to'which steam is supplied at 2 I,for the purpose of heating the beer in the coil to a higher temperaturebefore introducing it into the boiler.

The low grade constituents of the vapor rising in grade vapors are, ofcourse, conducted out of the top of the still by the pipe Ila into thejacket of the heater H from whence they pass out of the lower end of theheater jacket into the pipe In this modification it will be observedthat the low grade liquid condensate collecting in the heater H is notreturned directly to the lower pans of the separating section as by thepipe M in Figure l, but is conducted by the pipe Ma into tubes or coils22 in a backings heater 23 whose jacket communicates by the pipe 24 withthe jacket of the supplemental beer heater 20. The pipe |4a leading tothe tubes or coils 22 joins as at 25 with a pipe 26 leading to the pan4a which collects'the drippings from the coil B so that all of thecondensate thrown down into the pan (1 by the coil, as well as all ofthe condensate from the heater H will be reheated by the heater 23before being returned by the pipe 21 to the uppr pan a of the separatingsection 3.

A further refining of the normally high grade vapors carried in the pipe|3a may be effected by closing the valve 28, in the line |3a leading tothe final condenser, and by opening the valves 29 and 30 in pipes |3band |3c which communicate with the jacket of a backings condenser 3|.This will force all vapor to go through the preliminary condenser 3|before going to the final condenser to insure that all low grade liquidsare condensed. The condenser 3| is providcd with a suitable watercirculating coil system or its equivalent 32, the intake and exhaust forthe water being indicated respectively at 33 and 34. The lowest portionof the vapor jacket of the backing condenser is connected by a pipe 35with the backing pan 4a of the separating section. Thus, by causing thevapors passing through the pipe |3a from the heater to go through thebackings condenser 3|, any remaining low volatile vapors will becondensed and led back to the pan 4a of the separating section of thestill from whence they will pass to the heater 23 and then to the upperand succeeding pans 5a of the separating section before emptying intothe beer. I

From the foregoing it will be apparent that all of the condensatecollected in the upper pan la of the separating section, whether suchcondensate is furnished by the refining coil R or obtained from thebacking condenser 3|, will pass from the pan 4a through the pipe 26 intothe tubes 22 of the final heater 23 before being returned to theuppermost pan 5a of the separating unit in the still. It will also berecalled that any condensate occurring in the jacket of the beer heaterH will be carried through the final heater due to the fact that thejacket of the heater is connected with the line 26 by thepipe Ma.

In connection with the illustration of the heaters 20 and 23 it will, ofcourse, be understood that these units may be of any conventional typesuch as tube heaters or coil heaters well known in the art, and the sameis likewise true of the backings condenser 3|.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilledinthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I' claim:

1. A distilling apparatus including a still column, a beer heaterincluding beer conducting tubes surrounded by a jacket, said jacketcommunicating with the upper end of the still, a coil arranged withinthe upper end of the still column communicating with the beer tubes ofthe heater, said coil having its other end led out of the still, aheater for the latter portion of the coil, and said coil leading backinto the still to discharge the beer therein, a pan located beneath saidcoil within the still to receive condensate from the coil, a backingsheater connected to said pan to receive and to heat the condensatecollected in the pan, means for returning the condensate into the stillcolumn, means for conducting vapors from the heater jacket to a finalcondenser, valve means for controlling the flow of vapor to the finalcondenser, a backings condenser into which the vapor may be directed bymanipulation of certain of said valve means, a return pipe from thebackings condenser to said collecting pan, and a pipe connecting thelower end of the beer heater jacket to the backings heater.

2. A distilling apparatus including, in combination, a still columnhaving a top outlet, a beer conducting coil arranged within the space atthe top of the still column and in the path of vapors ascending in thestill toward the top outlet, a final condenser, means for conductingvapors from the top outlet of the still after they have been in contactwith the exterior of the beer coil to said final condenser, a panlocated within the still below the beer coil, a backings condenser,means for directing vapors on their way to the final condenser throughsaid backings condenser, a pipe connection between the jacket of saidbackings condenser and said pan, and means connected with said pan forconducting liquid therefrom to a backings heater and also leading thesame into the still column.

3. A distilling apparatus for producing highproof alcoholic liquorsincluding a still column, a beer heater of the tube type providingspaced tubes for conducting beer, and a condensing space around thetubes, said condensing space communicating with the .top of the stillcolumn,

a beer coil connected with the tubular beer com I

